What is Involved in a Personal Injury Claim for Broken Bones?

What is Involved in a Personal Injury Claim for Broken Bones?

As a personal injury claim company, we deal with many cases of broken bones. One thing we have discovered from this is that there are common misconceptions about the differences between a fractured bone and a broken bone. In medical terms, any bone that is cracked, crushed or broken is referred to as a fracture, regardless of how severe the injury is. The most common types of broken bones in the UK are broken legs, broken arms, broken wrists and broken toes.

There are many different ways in which a bone can ‘break’ and some of the most common ways are:

A Hairline Fracture

This is a fracture where the bone cracks, but the crack does not go all the way through the bone. This is why it is called a ‘hairline’ fracture, as it looks like a stray hair on your bone. Many people have suffered hairline fractures without realising, although it does cause pain and discomfort usually. Hairline fractures may look small, but care must be taken as they can easily become nastier breaks if excessive pressure is placed on them.

A Simple Fracture

This is a fracture that occurs through your bone, without piercing the skin or damaging any other tissue. It is usually not displaced either, which means it can be fixed without having to manipulate the bone in any way. A simple fracture can usually be healed by placing the affected area into a cast.

A Compound Fracture

This refers to a fracture which occurs in several places along the bone, rather than just in one place, like the simple fracture.

A Stress Fracture

This is a fracture of the bone that occurs over time, usually due to repeated strains, forces or stresses being applied to the area until it eventually gives way and cracks. This is a common injury in many work accident compensation claims and is a common sporting injury too – usually brought on by excessive training.

There are many other types of fracture you can suffer from, including: an avulsion fraction where you are working a muscle in your body so hard it pulls on your bone, causing a small piece of it to break away; a compression fracture which usually affects the spine and is caused by the bone collapsing; and an impacted fracture where a fragment of broken bone is forced into another bone causing it to break (this usually occurs in road traffic accidents).

But what does all this mean? Well, as a personal injury claim company we wanted to highlight the fact that if you suffer a fracture through no fault of your own, then you are entitled to make a personal injury compensation claim. This is usually on the basis of any pain and suffering you have felt as well as financial losses from being unable to work. The amount of compensation you will receive obviously depends on the severity of your injury, and whether you will be able to recover from the injury or not (amongst other things).

For more information on personal injury compensation claims, please call us on 01625 523838 or email us at gowen@go-law.co.uk